This invention relates to collecting data from biological tissue using magnetically active compounds, more specifically, paramagnetic compounds, for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Superparamagnetic polycrystalline iron oxide reagents have been used for NMR imaging. These reagents consist of multidisperse clusters of iron oxide crystals coated with, e.g., dextran, starch, albumin, or arabinogalactan to provide stability in aqueous solution. Because the size of the clusters is typically greater than 10 nanometers, they are rapidly taken up by the mononuclear phagocyte system of the liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and bone marrow following intravenous administration to permit imaging of these organs.